The survey team is reviewing data collected by a multibeam echo sounder. Left to right: Jen Kraus (NCCOS), John Bright (Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary), and Will Sautter (NCCOS).(Photo: Courtesy of the City of Sheboygan Planning and Development Department)

A team from the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (NCCOS), which is a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), is leading an effort to map areas of Lake Michigan off the Wisconsin coastline.

Planning for this project began in 2016. In 2017, the team worked off Manitowoc’s coastline and in 2018 is working off Sheboygan’s coastline.

The NCCOS team's mapping effort supports a marine ecosystem and benefits research efforts by state, regional, national and university partners. To promote future lakebed mapping and engage partners, the team has gathered information from stakeholders using an online survey prioritization tool.

The Lakebed Mapping Project dovetails with a broader Great Lakes-wide mapping coordination initiative led by NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management and the U.S. Geological Survey.

The survey team is configuring a multibeam echo sounder and side scan sonar system to survey the lakebed of Lake Michigan. Left to right: Will Sautter (NCCOS), Jen Kraus (NCCOS), Brent Johnston (Solmar Hydro Inc.), and Travis Smith (NOAA - Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory).(Photo: Courtesy of the City of Sheboygan Planning and Development Department)

NCCOS partners such as the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Freshwater Sciences, Wisconsin Historical Society, U.S. Geological Survey, NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have been involved in selecting the mapping area. The maps and a final report will be available to researchers, resources managers and the public.

On Saturday, June 9, the mapping research team hosted a student team from Chicago’s Adler Planetarium for a day of hands-on-experience aboard the RV Storm. The research vessel docked at the Harbor Centre Marina. Chicago’s Adler Planetarium is America’s first planetarium and serves as a premier resource for inspiring the next generation of space explorers.

The Adler team learned about the mapping process, sonar technology and worked on fine-tuning their own equipment that is being developed to search for meteorites that fell in Lake Michigan in February 2017. NOAA formed NCCOS in 1999 as the focal point for NOAA’s coastal ocean science efforts.

NCCOS helps NOAA meet its coastal stewardship and management responsibilities as well as provide coastal managers with the scientific information necessary to decide how best to protect environmental resources and public health, preserve valued habitats and improve the way communities interact with coastal ecosystems.

For more details, visit the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website at coastalscience.noaa.gov, email them at nccos.webcontent@noaa.gov, or call them at (240) 533-0300.

Chad Pelishek is the City of Sheboygan's director of Planning and Development.